I love the way house plants look, so alive and green, their shapes so erratic and each has its own character. All of my house plants tell a story, part of my story, and having them in the house reminds me each day of all that is wonderful in my life, truly making our house a home. When we got this one, it had 4 leaves and was a gift from friends of ours when we opened up our second business location. Beneath it is a fern that was almost completely dead when a friend of mine wanted to throw it away. I brought it home, set it in a shady spot and soon it was lush and enormous, growing with explosive vigor. Today, the spot it's in is too sunny and it's not looking so well. I need to find a place to move it, so it can be healthier again.




This African Violet is actually several plants, it started off as a gift from my friend Jamie, it was one of three plants in a "congratulations on the new baby" arrangement that she gave me after my 5th child was born. A few years ago, I replanted the daisies outdoors and placed 3 of the African Violet leaves into their pot, so now I have two ginormous African violets and daisies growing in the yard of my old house. African violets need sunlight from the north. I don't know why, I just know that my mother told me that when I was a little girl and these have always had northern light, and they flower repeatedly with no fertilizer or anything over 9 months out of every year since I've had them.

The little ivy plant on the far left was brought back to life by my 12 year old who added a teeny bit of vinegar to the water to kill mites, and kept it watered for alomst 3 months before it started growing again. next to it is a taller plant, I don't know what any of these are called, I got this one when my amazng frient Lisa saw it in a dumpster. Someone in an office was throwing it away so she rescued it, and we each got half. She said it just needed to be repotted. It does quite well where it is, I've had it for several years and this is the most leaves I've ever seen on it. It seems to like bright, not direct sunlight. Finally, on the far right is a spider, I got it and several others at Church a few months ago, we had a plant exchange and I got several new plants a few weeks later when no one picked up the leftovers. In the same pot there' a plant with three triangular leaves that close at night, it also has delicate white flowers. I have this same kind of plant growing in another pot, it was a centerpiece I had won at a MOPS meeting, now forever a reminder of the wonderful friendships that I made there.

And this is only half of my plants. I love houseplants, I can't imagine a home without plants.